Marc Bekoff – Important Life Lessons Kids Can Learn From Animals

Today I’m joined by one the nicest guys you could hope to meet, Marc Bekoff.

Marc is Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the Colorado University, a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, a member of the Ethics Committee of the Jane Goodall Institute and an ambassador for Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots programme.

He has published numerous essays and books for adults and 3 books for children.

In 2005 he was presented with The Bank One Faculty Community Service Award for the work he has done with children, senior-citizens, and prisoners, and in 2009 he was presented with the St. Francis of Assisi Award by the New Zealand SPCA.

Marc has also won several awards for the work he has done with children, senior-citizens, and prisoners.

We talk about……

How he tackles potentially controversial subjects like trophy hunting, with kids.

Listen here……

Animals At Play – using play behaviour in non-human animals to teach children in a fun way about cooperation, compassion, empathy and fairness. This brilliant educational book features many animals, including wolves, giraffes, apes, dolphins, dogs and elephants.

Kids And Animals – which came about as a result of his work with Jane Goodall. A wonderfully endearing fill-in-the-blank book, where children from all around the world have added their endings and illustrations to the phrases “I have a dream that……” or “I am thankful for…….”.

Jasper’s Story: Saving Moon Bears – a beautifully illustrated book that teaches children about the importance of having hope. Based on a true story about a bear rescued from the bear bile industry. This award-winning children’s book shows that with motivation and a lot of work it is possible to overcome adversity. Jasper is such an inspiration for hope that empowers children when they themselves or someone they love gets into a situation that could be viewed as hopeless – “If Jasper can do it I can do it too.”

If you are interested in reading Marc’s books, please visit his website.

Wilderkids is part of the POWEs group and a proud member of the Twig.fm extraordinary women podcasters for the planet channel. Please check out all the other great podcasts on the network at www.twig.fm